Comprehension Questions On Act III

1- Compare Shaw’s description of Mrs.

Higgins’s room with his description of her
son’s laboratory. How are the very different
natures of the two people reflected in the
furnishings and decorations of their rooms ?
- Mrs. Higgins‟s house is a comfortable place ,
not modern and up-to-date . The furnishings of
this home suggest that she loves beauty and
colour . This is an aspect of her character that
is lacking in her son , whose room is bare of
colour ,untidy and it reflects his character as a
spoilt child , careless , has noisy behavior and
not to be taken too seriously or regarded too
harshly.

2- What strict orders did Higgins give the flower

girl and told his mother about ?
The flower girl had to stick to two subjects : the
weather and everybody‟s health ,e.g fine day , hoe
do you do ? and not to let herself go on things in
general , from his point of view that will be safe .

3- Mrs. Higgins is the mother of one of the main

characters but she has her own view of him
.Illustrate.
Mrs. Higgins has her own attitude towards her son
(Mr. Higgins ) . He uses her home for the th home
treat each other politely and with consideration ,
she also judges them objectively . She regards
Higgins as rude , tactless and irresponsible in his
dealings with other people and generally childish in
his behaviour , apart from his knowledge and skill
in his work . She talks to him patiently but as a
mother of a tiresome child . She lives
independently in her own home not to be angry
with him all the time .

4- How did Mrs. Higgins meet her son ? What is

the significance ?
When the door opened violently, Mrs. Higgins was
dismayed and asked him in a scolding way about
the reason for which he came to visit her in her at-
home day despite his promise not to come in such a
day.
This shows that Mrs. Higgins doesn’t approve of
her son’s behaviour and she always accuses him of
lack of manners and offending her guests to the
extent that they don’t come to visit her again.

5- What did Mrs. Higgins blame her son for?

Mrs. Higgins blamed her son for many things:
First, for fidgeting & putting his hands in his
pockets while talking to her (p.34) . second, lack of
manners when he said : what do you imagine I
know of philosophy? She replied: or of
manners,Henry? Third she tried to stop his
annoyance to her guests and the ideas he expressed
by begging him : Henry, please!!(p.38) but he
couldn‟t stop lamenting ,cursing or objecting the
guests‟ ideas.

6- Mrs. Higgins had many worries about the

flower girl. Discuss .
Mrs. Higgins is a wise and trustworthy woman. She
sympathizes with Eliza from the very beginning.
When she first knew about Eliza she asked where
did the girl live? And on what terms? Then she
pitied the girl being a live doll played with by
Higgins & Pickering. And at last she was very
worried about the problem of what is to be done
with the girl afterwards. She couldn‟t accept what
Higgins called the advantages he gave Eliza and
she considered her a poor girl with no proper
future. (p.45)
7- what did Mrs. Higgins accuse her son &
Colonel Pickering of?
She accused them of being a pretty pair of babies
playing with their live doll.
8- How did Higgins defend himself? (p.43)
He couldn‟t accept his mother‟s word “playing
with a doll” and he said that it was the hardest job
he had ever tackled. He considered himself to be
making a new human being by creating a new
speech for her and by taking her to the high class of
society.
9- Mrs. Higgins claimed that when Eliza walked
in Wimpole Street something walked with her.
Discuss.
Mrs. Higgins was very worried about the girl ,
especially after seeing her. She told them that a
“problem” is walking around Eliza. Higgins&
Colonel Pickering expected it to be the end result
of their experiment as it was their only interest
(how to pass the girl off as a duchess but Mrs.
Higgins meant the girl‟s future.
10- How does Shaw criticize the upper class
people?
When Freddy greeted Higgins saying „Ahdedo”
(How do you do?) Shaw hints that upper class
pronunciation can distort the English language as
much as cockney does.
11- What does Liza do wrong at Mrs. Higgins'
home?
She doesn’t understand the unspoken rules of
polite society.

12- How does Eliza speak at Mrs.Higgins at-

home day?
First she speaks in correct pronunciation. She
greeted the guests by saying “How do you do?”,
pronouncing the H of” Higgins‟ successfully. The
conversation continued with a refrence to the
weather,but Eliza doesn‟t keep to the weather &
health ,she talks in details about her aunt‟s death &
wine.

13- Who are Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill?

They are the woman and daughter that Eliza
and Higgins encountered in the rain shower.

14- Henry says, "We want two or three people.

You'll do as well as anybody else." What does
the fact that he says that tell us?
They are practicing.

15- How does Eliza respond to Freddy’s offer

to accompany her?
Freddy who is smitten (fascinated) by Eliza‟s
beauty offers to accompany her while she walks
across the park , but Eliza responds with the
infamous (impolite) words “walk!! Not bloody
likely” which shocks everybody.

16- What does Clara think of Eliza?

She thinks Eliza represents the latest fashion
and wants to be just like her.